Dragons

Mass dragon attacks have long been the war army of choice for TH7s and early to mid stage TH8s, eventually giving way to level 4 hogs, and GoWiPe.

Even with the addition of level 4 dragons at TH9, and level 5 at TH10, they are not generally considered a preferred attack strategy beyond TH8, as they still have trouble with 4 air defenses, 2 sweepers, and 4-5 seeking air mines. There may be exceptions, however--if you're going below your level, attacking a base with weak or poorly positioned air defense, or going for 1 or 2 stars only. This guide, therefore, is primarily directed at TH8s, but does contain some additional tips for TH9 and 10 at the end.

What Makes a Good Dragon Base? 

By far the most important thing to look for is the level of the air defense. Level 2 dragons take out max TH7s rather easily, and level 3 dragons can 3 star pretty much any base with 3 level 5 air defenses. When it comes to level 6 air d, the base design, spell selection, and support troops matter a lot more. Typically, bases with spread out air d that can by quickly taken out by raging dragons or support troops are going to be easier than bases with air d that is closer to the center. Base that are too spread out will be difficult to 3 star with dragons, especially if you don't bring compliment of rage spells.

TH8s can also use dragons to 2 star lower level TH9s with spread out air d, or even 1 star TH10s with spread out bases and compacted air d.

Picking Where to Attack From

As a general rule, the faster you can take down the air d, and the more you can avoid the sweepers (or the faster you can take them down), the better your attack will go.

Deployment

A lot of dragon attackers just spam their dragons all in one spot and hope for the best, but this usually leads to some or all of the dragons going around the outside of the base instead of toward the town hall, often resulting in a 1 star attack. Skilled dragon users know that funneling is key to successful dragon attacks.

The basic idea behind a funnel is to clear 1 or more buildings on either side of where you plan to launch you main attack. Typically, you drop 1 dragon on either side of your main attack area, targeting buildings where they won't immediately get shot by an air defense. Ideally, you generally want them to target the outermost building you want to destroy first, then turn toward each other so they will join the rest of the pack. A five building span usually works well, though it could be slightly larger depending on how spread out the buildings are. This will help direct your dragons toward the center of the base.

Hero Use

Heroes can be used to create your initial funnel, but this usually causes them to die pretty quickly, and they are generally more effective if you save them for later in the battle. If you see one or more dragons heading away from the center, dropping your hero to clear outer buildings can help redirect them back toward the middle. Heroes are also useful on the back side of the base, where they can sometimes take out archer towers, teslas, and even air defense or sweepers before they kill your dragons. In either case, it is usually helpful to wait until the air/ground defense has already locked on a dragon to help the heroes live longer.

Balloon Support

While many players like to simply take a full compliment of dragons, the most effective strategies usually have at least a few support troops. Taking max loons in your clan castle is probably the most common strategy, and can often work better than having a max dragon. This strategy is usually used when the air d is tightly packed in the middle. Drop the loons behind your dragons, aiming at an air d, and get them both raging when closer to the middle. Alternatively, coming in ahead and to one side can help the balloons target the air d the dragons will get to last more quickly, but the air d and surrounding defenses will need to have locked on to the dragons, and you'll want to have a rage mostly for the loons. Either way, in most cases the 5 balloons you can carry in your clan castle, though in some cases you may consider dropping a dragon and adding 4 more to your army.

Hog Support

Hog support is only used for very select bases, but when it works, it works really well. The hogs are used to take out air defenses quickly, before they can do too much damage to dragons.  For the strategy to work, the hogs need to target the air defense quickly (usually first or second) and live long enough to get the job done. There should be no spaces in their path for a possible giant bomb. It is also best if the Barb King will not be activated, or can be distracted with your Barb King.

The dragons are placed first, as you want them taking out the clan castle before releasing any hogs. It also helps to use your Barb King to distract defenses. Max hogs in your CC are generally enough to take out a single air d if it is being targeted first or second, though if your hogs will be taking heavy fire, you may want to drop a dragon and add 4 more.

If going after 2 air d's with hogs, it's generally best to take 8 in your army, along with 5 in the CC. Send 1 of yours in front of the CC, use the other 7 for the second air d. Having hogs in your army and not just in your cc also allows you to send 1 on a suicide mission if you need to trigger a giant bomb. Using a dozen or more hogs could also warrant a heal spell if you think you can get them to take out an additional 2 or more teslas or archer towers, or you're going after an air d that they won't target first or second.

Spell Selection

Spell selection is key for dragon attacks, and really depends on the type of base you're trying to attack. If the air defense is tightly packed, in most cases you're going to want all rage, or 1 heal and the rest rage, along with balloons for support.

If the air defense is somewhat spread apart, you're more likely to want some lightning with earthquake to take out one or more before the start of the battle...generally on the opposite side of the base from where you're starting. If the air defense is really spread out, to the point where you can get at them with your heroes, or hogs or loons will target them first or second, consider using these options before lightning and go back to rage.

If your lightning spell is still level 4 or below, you'll need 3 of them. If it is level 5 and you have unlocked earthquake, 2 lightning 1 earthquake will take out an air d, freeing up the last spot for a rage spell.


Town Hall 9

Even with level 4 dragons, you're typically looking at 2 stars at best unless the air d is weak, or very poorly positioned. Attack strategies become more complicated as well; if you want to 3 star, you typically need a strategy to take out at least 2 air defenses using something other than dragons, and even then it can be a bit dicey if you don't take out the other 2 relatively quickly.

Spell Selection

2 level 5 lightning and any level earthquake will destroy a level 6 air d, but in order to destroy level 7, you'll need level 6 lightning OR level 3 earthquake (this may need some testing). You also only have enough spell spots to destroy 1 air d unless there are 2 air d's that both fall within the radius of a single earthquake. In this case, you may consider 4 lightning and an earthquake. Otherwise you'll generally want 2 lightning 1 earthquake and 2 rage, or possibly 1 rage and the final spell for your support troops.

You also have the option of haste at TH9, but dragons benefit from the damage increase the rage spell gives enough that it is hard to justify swapping out a rage for 2 haste. If you're using balloons for support though, haste can be helpful, as the balloons already do enough damage without rage, and mainly just need a speed increase.

Support Troops

The hog and balloon support apply even more to TH9. If you want to 3 star, you need to make sure you have a plan to deal with all the air defenses, and don't leave any standing longer than necessary.

Kill Squad

The main idea here is to use your heroes along with some support troops to take out 1 or more air defenses, and hopefully the enemy Queen, particularly if she is higher level. Typically, this involves a golem, at least a few wizards, and enough wallbreakers to get into 1 or 2 compartments, and possibly a jump or a rage spell (a golem in your cc plus 4 wizards and 2 wallbreakers leaves room for 10 dragons). Depending on what you hope to accomplish, however, you might be able to get away with as little as 1-2 giants, 1-2 wizards and a couple wallbreakers (meaning you could even bring 11 dragons), particularly if the air defense is easily accessible and you have high heroes.  On the other end of the spectrum, you can go with 2 golems with about 6 wizards (leaving you with 8 dragons. In this scenario you really need to take out 2 air defenses, so there's a decent chance you'll want to use 4 earthquake to open up one side of the base. This could leave you 2 lightning 1 quake for the 3rd air d, or 2 rage and a poison. You're probably best off poisoning the Queen, and you may want to use one of the rage spells on your kill squad to make sure they get both air d's.

The one advantage you have over other armies that use kill squads is that you can lead with your dragons if you want. This will divert some damage away from your kill squad, which should be considered if using a smaller kill squad.

A final option you have that doesn't work with other kill squads is using a lava hound as a meat shield instead of a golem. the hound won't likely last as long, and it won't protect from cannons, mortars, or xbows set on ground, so it helps if you have a relatively high level Barb King, but it will keep the air defense off your dragons if you time it right.

Lava Hounds 

It may be tempting to use lava hounds to soak up damage in dragon attacks, but they do so little damage and take up so much space that it's really not a good combination. Other than the above use, a single max hound in your CC might be helpful, but the real key is timing. Deploy too soon, the hound is dead before the dragons are anywhere near the air d. Deploy too late and you'll lose at least 1 dragon before the air d locks on to your hound.


Town Hall 10

Max dragons can pretty effectively deal with many TH9s if you use the tips above. Plus you now have an extra spell, so you could take out 2 air d with 4 lightning and 2 earthquake, and then have a poison to use on the queen. If your freeze spell is high enough, that can also be an effective weapon.

Against other TH10s, there's a chance you could 2 star if the air d's are far enough out, though if there's an inferno set on single within range of the TH, dragons are probably still a no-go. The strategies remain similar to those above--directing your dragons toward the TH is key, as is taking out any air d's that might target your dragons as quickly as possible.